Tim Tebow returns and Florida Gators' defense flexes its muscles

(Check the website for my game story.)

BATON ROUGE, La. -- We figured it would be low scoring but who expected Florida 13, Louisiana State 3? 13-3!

Wow, five games into the season and Florida's defense has only allowed two touchdowns. What's the bigger story tonight: Tebow's return or UF's defense? Tebow is going to get all the headlines but UF's defense should be getting all the credit. Consider this: Florida had more sacks on Saturday night (five) than LSU had yards in the third quarter (four).

Led by a resurgent Brandon Spikes, UF's defense allowed just 44 yards in the second half. Spikes led the Gators with 11 tackles, including 2.5 sacks. LSU managed just one third-down conversion on nine attempts on Saturday. Whenever the Gators needed a big play on Saturday, it seemed like UF's defense delivered. At the end of the first half, it was a key interception by Joe Haden. At the end of the second half, it was the sacks.

"Just to come in and play in a hostile environment like this, I've never really played in an environment like this one at LSU," said UF linebacker Ryan Stamper, who had nine tackles. "Their crowd is a lot like our home crowd. To come in front of their home crowd says a lot about our team."

The Gators snapped LSU's Saturday night winning streak at 32 games. Before Saturday, the last time the Tigers lost a Saturday night game at Tiger Stadium came against Alabama on Nov. 16, 2002. LSU lost 31-0. UF's defense nearly had a shutout on Saturday if not for back-to-back unsportsmanlike-conduct penalties that led to LSU's only field goal of the night.